Crooked-Penis Drug Developer Rises After Pfizer Deal

War Hero

Auxilium Pharmaceuticals Inc., the biotechnology company developing a drug to treat penis curvature and hand lumps, rose the most in three years in Nasdaq trading after Pfizer Inc. bought the rights for as much as $485 million.

Auxilium, of Malvern, Pennsylvania, gained $4.11, or 18
percent, to $27 at 10:41 a.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock
Market composite trading. It jumped as much as 22 percent, the
biggest intraday gain since July 2005. Auxilium said late
yesterday New York-based Pfizer, the worldâs biggest drugmaker,
would help develop the shot Xiaflex for 46 European and Asian
countries.

The medicine targets Peyronieâs disease, a curvature of the
penis, and Dupuytrenâs contracture, a growth of hard tissue in
the hand. Both conditions are caused by the buildup of collagen,
or scar tissue. Xiaflex is a biotechnology drug made up of three
types of enzymes that can break down collagen.

In Peyronieâs disease, the buildup of collagen on the shaft
of the penis reduces flexibility, causes pain and can interfere
with sexual intercourse. It affects an estimated 1 percent to 3
percent of men, according to Weill Cornell Medical Center in New
York. In Dupuytrenâs contracture, found in 3 percent to 6 percent
of Caucasians, especially those of northern-European descent,
collagen buildup in the palm can contract the fingers and impair
use of the hand.

Auxilium said it expects to file an application with the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration early next year for the drugâs
use in treating the hand condition. The medicine is in the second
of three phases of testing usually required for FDA approval for
the penis-curvature condition and another illness known as frozen
shoulder syndrome.